Texas Rangers rumors from the Winter Meetings on Day One are, at this point, fairly scarce. This is in contrast to last year's winter meetings, when seemingly every free agent and player available via trade was being connected to Texas in some form or fashion.
There was a certain amount of buzz when Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Rangers would consider dealing Elvis Andrus, but that seems misguided...ultimately, the Rangers would consider dealing just about every player they have. They are going to listen on everything. That's their m.o. As Evan Grant later tweeted, the Rangers aren't considering dealing Elvis...but if a team wanted to come to them and blow them away with an offer, it isn't as if Jon Daniels is going to hang up without even listening.
At this point, the whispers continue to have the Rangers in on free agent outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Nelson Cruz, though they aren't willing to pay the current asking price for either player. We've talked before about Choo being someone who could be in a similar situation to Adrian Beltre in the 2010-11 offseason, where January comes around and the Rangers are the last team standing with an offer he finds palatable.
As for Cruz, I would be surprised if the Rangers were the high bidder for him -- given the reports of the Mariners having interest, I think they'll end up having the top dollar offer -- but Texas met with Cruz's camp today, and apparently aren't shutting any doors. Buster Olney just tweeted (literally, as I was typing this paragraph) that the Rangers are comfortable doing two years with an option, while Cruz wants three years, so if the team and Cruz work something out, I'd expect it to be something like two years with a vesting option.
I suspect that the Rangers would be on board with both Cruz and Choo at the right dollar figures, since they could plug Cruz in at DH, Choo in at RF, Alex Rios in LF, and let Michael Choice stay in AAA as insurance for the start of 2014. I would put that in the longshot category, but I don't think signing one precludes signing the other.
Otherwise, the Rangers will probably look at some of the mid-tier free agents -- guys like Corey Hart and Michael Morse who are going to be looking for one year deals to re-build value -- or possibly targeting someone like Billy Butler via trade.
Texas keeps getting mentioned as a player in the David Price sweepstakes, and I just don't see that as a fit, given what Tampa is going to want and what Seattle is prepared to offer...in fact, it wouldn't shock me if the Rangers are playing up their interest in Price in the rumor mill in an effort to try to increase what Seattle is willing to give up to "out-bid" Texas.